{DIY} 4th of July Recycled Bottle Decoration

I love to collect fun bottles and glass jars! I'm always thinking what can I make out of this?

Today I'm over at Piggy Bank Parties sharing this fun & easy tutorial! Head on over and check it out!

{DIY} Spring Wreath

I love having a cute wreath on the front door and I knew I needed to make one for Easter. If you read yesterday's post about the napking rings, you know my goal is to only use what I already have for all my Easter & spring decorations. So I whipped up this wreath doing just that!

This was super easy to make and I only used a handful of supplies:

-wreath
-burlap or fabric to cover wreath

-yarn

-felt

-buttons

I actually had this wreath wrapped with burlap on hand. You could use fabric instead of the burlap. It was left over from a Valentine's Day craft FAIL, but like a good crafter I hung on to it knowing it would have it's day eventually! All I did was cut the burlap into wide strips, wrap it around the foam wreath & hot glued the ends.

I have this really fun multi-colored yarn that I just love...it's so cheerful so I had to use it! I'll be honest...my original intention was to COMPLETELY COVER the wreath in this yarn. But you know what? That takes a REALLY LONG time...and I have no patience for those kinds of crafts. So I went with a more "whimsical" look...and I ended up really liking how the burlap shows through.

I made some very simple flowers out of felt, using a flower template that I printed out. I cut the flowers out with the inside flower being smaller than the previous to achieve a layered look. I hot glued them on and then used some colorful buttons in the center (as I've mentioned many times...I love buttons)!!

I'll be using this wreath for Easter, but it's perfect to keep up all spring!

Happy Spring!


I'm linking up to...

{DIY} Easter Napkin Rings

I recently cleaned out and organized my craft cabinet and man...that was an EYE-OPENER!! It turns out that I buy waaay too much craft stuff that NEVER EVER gets used! Who knew??? (well according to my husband HE knew...ha ha ha)! Sooooo...I'm hosting Easter this year and decided that I was going to make all the decorations using only what I already had on hand. So Michael's PLEASE stop sending me all those great coupons!!!!

I have no idea why on earth I have a TON of felt...but I do, so it's going to be featured in most of my Easter decor. The first thing I made were these cute & colorful napkin rings!

These were super simple to make and I whipped up 10 of them in less than an hour!

You will need:
felt in various colors
ribbon
buttons or other embellishments
hot glue

To begin, cut your ribbon to your desired length. I cut mine about 10 1/2" long. This length allows for a large enough hole to slip a napkin into.

Then I cut out my egg shapes out of felt. I googled an egg template,printed it out on cardstock and used it to cut my eggs out. I tried to free hand them, but my eggs were all wonky so the template was easier.

Cross your ribbon over and use a dab of hot glue to secure.

Then use another dab of hot glue and attach your egg.

I have a thing for buttons...so I have lots of bags of them. I thought these pretty flower buttons were perfect for spring.

Hot glue the buttons onto the eggs.

That's it! Cute little napkin rings to add some cheer to your Easter table!

I was taking the pictures for this post, staring at these cheerful little creations got me thinking...

And I thought of another fun use for them...

I might just have to whip up a few more of these little cuties!

Happy Spring!

My Christmas Village

I've always loved looking at Christmas villages. Those cute little houses just seemed so adorable! Despite how pretty I think they are, I never got into collecting them. But this year I was inspired by something in the craft store and I knew I was going to make a winter village!

The houses are little birdhouses that I discovered in the $1.00 bins at Michaels. I bought them during the after Thanksgiving sale and ended up paying 50 cents for each of them!

The birdhouses and the snowflakes were the only items I purchased for this project. Everything else was made from materials I already owned, making for one budget friendly little village!


I covered a box in wrapping paper and draped a piece of snow blanket over it. This is actually a twice-recycled box as it's the same one I used to hold our turkey pops on Thanksgiving.

I removed the rope from the top, painted each little house and added a pretty bow.

I was originally going to make a mini banner to string across the top, but I found these adorable tiny snowflakes at the craft store and had to use them. How cute are they?

To create the space to hang the snowflakes, I wrapped 2 wooden dowels in yarn. I love how fun this rainbow yarn looks! I hot glued each dowel onto the sides of the box and ran another string of yarn between them.


I loved how bright & cheery my little village looked, but I couldn't help but feel that it seemed empty. A few winter residents were needed.

I made these cute little birdies from scrapbook paper and added a ribbon for a scarf!

Now my holiday winter village is complete!

{DIY} The Great Pumpkin Tree & Free Printable

I really love all the Halloween trees  I'm seeing on the party scene this year! When I put together our recent Halloween Play Date, I knew I wanted a tree for the kids. I originally saw a Pumpkin Treat Tree from Pottery Barn, which was the inspiration for mine! 

The Great Pumpkin Tree was super easy 

& inexpensive to make!!

You will need:

1 Plastic Pumpkin bucket 

mini pumpkin buckets

tree branch

black spray paint

candy corn

yarn or ribbon

printable tags (I'm giving you those)

scrapbook paper & stickers *optional

2" circle punch *optional

The first thing you will need to do is spray paint your tree branch black. I found one right in my front yard!! Although you will notice that I "rearranged" some of the branches to my liking, using some electrical tape!

I thought it would be cute to use candy corn as pumpkin seeds, since the fruit of a tree has the seeds inside! Fill your mini treat buckets with candy corn. I found these cute little buckets at the craft store!

Use yarn or ribbon to attach the Pumpkin Seeds tag (provided below) to each little pumpkin.

When your branch is dry, you are ready to put your tree together! You will need to weigh down the inside of your pumpkin in order to hold the branch in & support it. You can get pretty creative with what you want to use!

I used a bag of rice & a bag of leftover candy corn! But you can use pretty much anything you have lying around! Then I covered the opening with some black Halloween netting. 

Then hang your mini pumpkins onto the tree branch. Distribute them evenly in order to keep the tree balanced.

I also decided to make a "The Great Pumpkin" sign for the tree. I used scrapbook paper and stickers to create this simple sign.

Today I'm giving you the Pumpkin Seed printables to use to make your own tree! Just click on the title or on the bottom of the Scribd toolbar to download.

Pumpkin Seeds

Hope you enjoy your Great Pumpkin Tree!


I'm linking up to these great parties...

Guest Posting at Giggles Galore!

I'm excited to be guest posting over at Giggles Galore today! Mariah is a super talented lady who I have the pleasure of being a fellow Piggy Bank Parties crew member with! 


She puts together some beautiful parties and I am in love with her most recent one. Don't miss her super sweet vintage Dick & Jane inspired party she threw for her twins!

Today I'm there to show you how to make this super easy & inexpensive Halloween art so come on over & check it out!

{DIY} Duck Tape Pumpkins

Yep, you read that right...Duck Tape! Have you seen Duck Tape recently? It comes in so many fun colors & patterns that I have been itching to do something fun with it. So I did!

I took my boring old craft pumpkin from drab...

to FAB!

It was the easiest, quickest project EVER! Just tape up your pumpkin to your liking...

 and add a little bow. THAT IS IT!!!

My favorite kind of craft project...easy!!!


I'm linking this up to these great parties...

Guest Posting at Lil' Luna!

Today I'm very thrilled to be guest posting over at Lil' Luna for their Great Pumpkin Series. Lil' Luna is a FABULOUS blog full of great tutorials, recipes & a Link Party every Wednesday to show off YOUR creations!


Head over today where I'm showing how to make this Glittery Mini Pumpkin Topiary!